


On Vacation Sylvia

by Shatterpath



Series: Doggie Aspects [4]
Category: Original Work
Genre: F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2002-10-17
Updated: 2002-10-17
Packaged: 2017-11-05 00:53:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/400097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shatterpath/pseuds/Shatterpath
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's taken many years, too many years, but the Major Arcana is at last ready for the sea!</p>
            </blockquote>





	On Vacation Sylvia

**Author's Note:**

> Aspects prompt #5- On Vacation
> 
> Sylvia, the maiden voyage of the Major Arcana. From Ariestess

++ Sylvia ++

 

(10-17-02)

 

It is impossible.

 

In this great vision of wood and steel, I am transported back many years, when we were younger, less set in our ways. Blinded there, in the hazy early autumn sunlight of the Pacific Northwest, I remember the lessons that isolation have taught me.

 

“ _Oh, you and your pirates!” Anastasia laughs, the sound a strangled giggle as she tries to remain dignified. KC and Jesse, of course, have no such compulsions, and howl with merriment. Rather than offense, I feel a part of them, blessed by their presences in a life I have always taken too seriously._

 

“ _Actually,” Jesse abruptly goes completely serious, stroking his scruffy beard. “It’s not a bad idea. Build one that can host people for voyages.”_

 

“ _Like a cruise ship?” KC questions skeptically, but there is a gleam of feral interest in her eye._

 

“ _Sure. So many people love the water and I bet that some of those contractors that build replicas of old tall ships can tailor one to our needs.”_

 

“ _Hmm,” Anastasia hums thoughtfully, and I abruptly realize that one of the farthest flung of an old fantasy just_ _might_ _come true. “It certainly has a powerful fetish draw. Yes, let's look into it. This may just be worth the effort!”_

 

From that night sprang plans; drawings, supplies, endless phone calls and a desperate search for the right people with the right skills. Setting up the bulk of the funding was easy compared to finding the crew for this strange baby.

 

The irony that keeping the project a secret from our ranks still makes me smile in exasperation.

 

“Ma’am,” says a voice I remember, and I look just that little bit up into the smoky eyes that seem to reflect the surroundings of wherever the woman goes. “She’s ready for you.”

 

“Thank you, captain,” I whisper hoarsely around the lump in my throat. A small, understanding smile curls her fine mouth and Captain Drewson steps aside so that we may appreciate the beauty together, side by side. A Heart, through and through, Jack and her partner, Dugan, have remained in exile here, in Everett, Washington, refusing to walk away from the promises they made so many years ago.

 

Jesse came to them, after a couple of months of frenzied effort to clean up after Snake-Eyes, and charged them with finishing the project. With effort, money and the rehiring of many of the original crew that built her…

 

The Major Arcana gleams in the patchy autumn sunshine of her birthplace.

 

The name of this gorgeous ship started out as a joke. Few realize that the modern deck of playing cards owes their existence to the tarot deck. There’s a reason that KC calls her most dangerous Spades by the name of Swords. I am Pentacles, the symbol of prosperity, which suits me perfectly, while the Hearts are Cups, maternal and nurturing, and Clubs came from the Wands, of which I will refrain from commenting on or be forced to listen to Jesse make dick jokes.

 

Since we have covered the minor Arcana in our taking of the names of their playing card descendants, we named the ship for the other cards in the tarot deck. Hungrily raking my eyes over the fine bas relief carved and cast in her skin, painted with care and love, I spy many of the symbols. Down her starboard side are The Fool, The High Priestess, The Emperor, The Lovers, Strength, The Wheel of Fate, The Hanging Man, Temperance, The Tower, The Moon and Judgment. The others must trace down the port side, as the cards alternate from one side to the other. I walk the length of the dock, clinging with trembling fingers to Jack’s arm, and mouth each symbol as I recognize it.

 

On the bow, is a voluptuous figure painted as mother Earth, possibly the most powerful of the cards. Her life-sized beauty brings tears to my eyes, and I can almost visualize her smile deepening. At the end of the dock, I look back to where she bobs serenely on the small waves of Puget Sound. The dramatically carved and painted letters that I myself designed so long ago, look regal on her square stern.

 

My friends wait where I began my walk down the ship’s side, all of them smiling and misty-eyed. Even Dace is here, and I’m glad to see my lost lover. Whatever else may have transpired between us, she is still such a part of my past. It is only right that she be here with the others.

 

It is time now. Time to return to my friends and shatter the bottle of expensive champagne across the magnificent bow of this ship. Time to go aboard for a voyage, to partake of whatever feast and drink and partying Jack and her crew have concocted. Time to sail her to wherever we feel the need, from the icy north to exotic jungle islands.

 

It is time.


End file.
